The Crazy Carrot Clones

Problem Scenario

Crops aren't doing all to well lately, with the droughts, flooding, bad seeds, and pests like mice and Japanese beetles. In the animal kingdom creatures with low survival rates have more kids because it increases the odds that one or two will live to adulthood, if the conditions that produce the most roots from plants are found, the the roots could be separated from the main root and be planted, and the survival rate for that type of plant will go up just like with animals. Then, odds are natural selection will kick in and the best ones will survive, producing a crop of produce that can withstand common causes of crop failure.

Broad Question:

Is the root growth of carrots effected by what material you put them in?

Specific Question:

Which of the following materials produces the largest number of carrot clones, water, darkness (paper bag), shredded paper, wood shavings, or nothing at all?

Hypothesis

If I put a chunk of carrot in a paper bag, a chunk in shredded paper, another chunk in water, another in wood shavings, and another in nothing at all the number of roots growing off the main tuber will be affected.

Graph of hypothesis

(sorry it's so blurry the label on the y axis is number of clones, labels on the x axis from left to right are water, wood shavings, shreded paper, paper bag, and nothing at all)

Variables

Independent Variable: the material the carrot chunk is in

Dependent Variable: the number of clones on the carrot chunk

Controlled Variables: light, heat, type of carrot

General Plan

I will take carrots and put them in different materials. Over 4 weeks I shall observe the carrots clone development and write down obseveations once a week.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The things that could go wrong are :1 The Carrots might rot before the experiment is over. 2. Roots might not grow off the carrot. 3 mold might grow

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Nothing, unless I get hungry then the carrots aren't safe.

Experimental design

Number Of Comparison Categories:

Water, wood shavings, shredded paper, papper bag, nothing at all

Number of Comparison Samples:

one of each

Number Of Observation In Each Sample

I will count the number of roots growing off the carrot chunk

When data will be collected

Once every week.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Organic Carrots	2 carrots	Hannaford's	$2.99
plastic bags	4 bags	Hannaford's	$3.29
wood shavings	1 cup	Walmart	$8.15
paper	1 page	Staples	$7.79
water	1 cup	My Sink	FREE!
paper bag	1 bag	Hanaford's	$0.99
squirt bottle	1	Walmart	$1.99
		total cost	$25.20

Detailed Procedure

1.) chop carrots into two inch chunks
2.)select the material you need
3.) put material into a plastic bag
4.)repeat steps 2-3 until all the materials in the bags
5.) put one carrot chunk into each bag
6.)place bags in direct sunlight
7.) after a week take the carrots out, write down the number of roots starting to grow
8.) take a picture of the carrot
9.)return each chunk back in to it's specific bag
10.)Repeat 6-8 for 4 weeks
11.) graph and record data

Photo list:

One photo of each carrot after week in the materials
One photo of every carrot after 4 weeks in the materials

Time Line

Start experiment February 3rd
February 13th Do first observation, record number of roots sprouting off the carrot chunks and take a photo of the carrot chunks
February 17th Do second observation, record number of clones sprouting off the carrot chunks
February 24th Do third observation, record number of clones sprouting off the carrot chunks
March 3rd Do final observation, record number of clones sprouting off the carrot chunks and take a photo of the carrot chunks
March 4th make poster board

Vocabulary

tuber- main root

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Data Table

	No Material	wood shavings	water	Paper bag
week 1	4 roots	15 roots	3 roots	8 roots
week 2	5 roots	16 roots	3 roots	9 roots
week 3	5 roots	20 roots	4 roots	10 roots
week 4	5 roots	21 roots	7 roots	10 roots

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Week one: Control, 4 roots. Wood shavings, 15 roots. Water, 3 roots. Paper bag, 8 roots.
Week two: Control, 5 roots. Wood Shavings, 16 roots. Water, 3 roots. Paper bag, 9 roots.
week three:Control
week four

Graphs

Photos

week one: Papper bag, 8 roots


week one: Water,3 roots

week one: Wood Shavings, 15 roots

week one: No Material, 4 roots


Week two: no material, 5 roots
Week two:water: 3 roots
Week two: paper bag 9 roots
Week two:wood shavings 16 roots

Week three: no material 5 roots
Week three: water 4 roots carrot is larger
Week three: wood shavings 20 roots
Week three: paper bag 10 roots carrot is a brighter color then the rest

Week 4: no material 5 roots

Week 4: water 7 roots carrot is larger than the rest

Week 4: wood shavings 21 roots

Week 4: paper bag 10 roots carrot is a brighter color then the rest

(photo's wouldn't upload)
Results
The wood shavings produced 21 roots.
paper bag produced 10 and the carrot was brighter in color.
The water produced only 7 roots but the carrot itself grew larger.
The control only grew 5 roots.
(photos wouldn't upload because my camera is a jerk)

Conclusion

The number of roots growing off the tuber was affected. The wood shavings caused 14 more roots to sprout than the control. The paper bag not only resulted in 5 more roots in the control, it was also a brighter color than the other carrots. Coming in third for the most roots was the carrot growing in water, that resulted in 2 more roots than the control to grow. Finally we have the control, the carrot without a material, with 5 roots sprouting off the tuber.

Discussion

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Farming areas could take some of the carrots from the previous year and put them in wood shavings. The carrots would sprout little roots and begin to grow. Then the farmers can cut off the roots and plant them. The carrots will then grow up to be beautiful salads

References

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg0435.html
For informatiion on root growth

Abstract

For my experiment I tested if materials had an effect on root growth.